in other words/in case you missed it
april10
2012
By Lynn Berry
Here, in the Pacific Northwest,
April gently brushes us with the
beginnings of spring. Fresh buds, new
blooms, and the shift in the air moves
us along into the next season. In nature,
as in art, and as in life, each one of us
has the opportunity, if we are willing,
to consciously experience the variable
shifts each of these elements brings. For
example, I have had the honor and
opportunity to observe some of the people
in my life moving through their own
season of beginning and re-creation. For
example, one of my friends is grieving
the death of her life-long husband, a few
are rebuilding their lives after divorce,
another is experiencing re-marriage in her
70’s, another has just given birth, and another has
moved across the States, looking to re-create her
life. Each are walking profoundly different paths,
yet each has the unification of wholly knowing the
immense courage and surrender it takes to face a
complete new chapter in their lives. In each case,
change has been a catalyst for deeper meaning
and understanding of themselves and of others.
Surrendering to life’s twists and turns moves us
from fear to faith, from despair to hope, which
helps us to discover our purpose and direction in
this world.
i lean forward
full of the
possibility, the
hope of color,
growth, warmed soil
and being loose of
the chill of this
garden’s long winter.
-----------Maryanne Radmacher
Illustrated in the poem above, by Maryanne
Radmacher, to “lean forward” (1) with “possibil-
ity”(3) and “hope”(4) emerges from experiencing
the difficult times in of our lives, and wanting to be
desperately free of “the chill of this / long winter
19
(7,8). The “hope” and possibility” moves us
from the dark to into the light, as we desper-
ately want and need our lives to rebirth and
expand in new directions. Yet, our essential de-
velopment and growth stems from experienc-
ing, fully, the winter seasons in our lives.
---Writer’s Idea: Write about what you have
discovered about yourself after a difficult time
or transition in your life. What strengths have
you gained from this transition?
---Writer’s Tip: Make a commitment to write
everyday this week.
---We would love to publish your poems!!!!
Please send your original submissions to,
(or if you would like a copy of any of the
published poems) InkwellVernonia@gmail.
com or by mail: PO Box 333 Vernonia, OR
97064. Please include your name and contact
information. Write--Express--Expand.
Lynn Berry holds an M.A. in English, specializing
in feminist literature and literary criticism. She
has spent several years teaching Literature,
Composition, Poetry, Creative Writing, and Critical
Thinking at various school districts and colleges,
and occasionally provides writing workshops.
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